Lebanon’s MEA ranks 18th carrier in world in terms of net profits

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Lebanon’s MEA ranks 18th carrier in world in terms of net profits

Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 22, 2009

BEIRUT: The prestigious Air Transport World magazine ranked Middle East Airlines (MEA) the 18th carrier in the world in terms of net profits in 2008. The magazine, which published tables of the leading 25 airlines around the world in terms of size of fleet and number of passengers, said that MEA recorded a net profit of $89.463 million in 2008 ahead of Republic Airways Holding and behind Virgin Blue Airlines.

The US-based Federal Express took the first spot with a net profit of $1.125 billion, followed by Qantas Group with a profit of $931.401 million.

According to the magazine, Delta Airlines was the largest carrier in terms of number of planes with a fleet of 749 aircrafts.

MEA chairman Mohammad Hout told The Daily Star on Tuesday that the results proved that small carriers can survive better than large airlines during a deep economic recession.

“Many large international airlines recorded huge losses due to the global financial crisis. But our company continued to show steady profits despite the relatively small fleet in comparison to other airways,” Hout said.

MEA is currently operating brand new 13 Airbus planes and intends to acquire an additional three Airbus aircraft. The airline flies to 29 destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Hout stressed that the company managed to maintain steady profits for many years thanks to the prudent policy of the management.

He said that he is quite satisfied with the number of aircrafts, suggesting that the company has no intentions to go beyond 16 planes in the near future.

Hout added that after the election of President Michael Slieman, more than 1.1 million passengers’ boarded MEA planes.

“If the situation remained the same and the number of tourists to Lebanon rose then I expect to have profits similar to 2008.”

The Central Bank controls more than 99 percent of MEA.

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Middle East airlines post $20m earnings in Q2
Emirates Business 24-7, 02 September 2009

Middle Eastern carriers recorded $20 million (Dh73.4m) profits in the second quarter of 2009, up from $7m profit recorded in the first quarter of the year, even as airlines across the globe posted $2 billion in losses in the second quarter, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

"Net losses continue to expand in the second quarter, with some exceptions in North and South America. Net losses so far this year for more than 50 airlines are in excess of $6bn, excluding 'mark-to-market' fuel hedging gains," Iata said in the July-August 2009 Airlines Financial Monitor report.

The aviation trade body had earlier forecast the industry losses for the full year to reach about $9bn.

Meanwhile, Latin America was the only other region to see its airlines making a profit in the second quarter, as carriers in Europe and Asia-Pacific fared worse than a year ago, Iata said.

With regards to the passenger capacity, Iata said it has been cut on international routes in July-August, "with the exception of the Middle East".

Recently, Official Airline Guide, a UK-based global flight information and data solutions firm, said Middle Eastern airlines saw their overall capacity in August going up by 13.3 per cent, even as airlines globally increased seating capacity by just 0.2 per cent in the month compared to the same period a year earlier.

Nonetheless, stronger equity markets gave airlines an opportunity to raise more, much needed, cash, according to Iata. "Since the start of the year airlines have raised $3bn of equity and $12bn from new debt issues," Iata said.

"Airlines take advantage of stronger equity markets to raise $15bn to help cushion operating cash burn."

By Shweta Jain
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009